[arg_discuss] [announce] A New Book: Toward a Ludic Architecture

[Steffen P. Walz]

Dear list members,

I would like to share with you that my new book, Toward a Ludic  
Architecture: The Space of Play and Games, has just been published by  
the ETC Press, an academic, open source, multimedia, publishing  
imprint affiliated with the Entertainment Technology Center (ETC) at  
Carnegie Mellon University.  The ETC Press represents an experiment  
and an evolution in publishing, bridging virtual and physical media to  
redefine the future of publication.





In Toward a Ludic Architecture, I take a playful look at the  
conceptual space of play and games, architecturally framing play and  
games as human practices in and of space – whether we think of a board  
game, an athletic competition in a stadium, a videogame, playful  
social networking on the World Wide Web, an Alternate Reality Game, a  
location-based mobile game, or any combination thereof:  Ludic  
activities are, have, and take place in or at, spaces.

My 366-page publication can help you analyze and conceptually design  
play and games from an architectural standpoint - an approach that  
becomes more important in an era where games extend into physical,  
designed space that is increasingly permeated by devices, sensors, and  
information networks, allowing for rules and fictions to superimpose  
our everyday environments.  Toward a Ludic Architecture may not only  
be relevant to game designers.  The book can come in handy, too, for  
architects, conceptual & interaction designers, media artists,  
marketing & branding agencies, directors, media producers as well as  
dramaturges who wish to instill play stimuli or game mechanics into  
their spatially oriented services, events or campaigns.

In Toward a Ludic Architecture, I am discussing the following questions:

How are play and games architected?
What kind of architecture do they produce and in what way does  
(historical and existing) architecture program play and games?
What kind of architecture could be produced by playing and gameplaying?

Note that the pure text of the book can be read online for free, yet  
sans layout, images and tables. The print version of Toward a Ludic  
Architecture includes over 60 images and many how-to tables.

To read the book, and to purchase or download a layouted copy, please  
visit:
http://www.etc.cmu.edu/etcpress/content/toward-ludic-architecture  
(Table of Contents on right hand's side or scroll down)

ETC's press release:
http://www.etc.cmu.edu/global_news/?q=node/327

Fan Toward a Ludic Architecture on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Toward-a-Ludic-Architecture/287527236432

For conceptual design consultancy, workshops, and talk opportunities,  
please e-mail me:
spw at sreee.com

What others think of Toward a Ludic Architecture:
“This intriguing book offers a comprehensive investigation of both the  
conceptual and spatial aspects of play – a crucially important part of  
our urban life today. Indispensable reading for anyone interested in  
the joyful qualities of cities and architecture.”
– Iain Borden
Professor of Architecture and Urban Culture & Head,
UCL Bartlett School of Architecture
“Steffen P. Walz has created a fascinating, multi-dimensional map for  
exploring the relationship of games and spaces. His work lays out a  
solid foundation for understanding how architectural concepts can  
inform game design practice and vice-versa.”
– Frank Lantz
Creative Director and Co-Founder of area/code
& Director, New York University Game Center
“Architecture and game design have a great deal to offer each other,  
as Steffen P. Walz argues in this long overdue and rigorous meditation  
on the intersections between the two. In this highly original work,  
the author merges and contrasts some of the best thinking from game  
studies and architectural theory to explore both the space of play,  
and the play of space. To build his argument, Walz engages a dialog  
among disparate voices from psychology and sociology, philosophy,  
design and architecture, games and play studies, invoking the canon in  
each as well as introducing some new and relevant voices into the  
discourse. “
– Celia Pearce
Director, Experimental Game Lab, School of Literature,
Communication & Culture, Georgia Institute of Technology
I would like to thank everyone who has helped me make this book become  
a reality -
best regards & have a particularly nice and playful day:

Steffen P. Walz